When Rose promoted special teams coordinator Mike Villagrana to offensive coordinator three weeks ago, he spread special teams among the remaining staff.

Rose took on the punt return and kickoff return units. Part of his week is spent digging into video to see where the Pirates might gain an advantage in the return game. He hones techniques and blocking schemes and return lanes on the practice field, as well as overseeing the entire operation.

"One of the players said, 'I've never seen you this animated before,'" Rose said Wednesday. "I don't know about that. I know how I am and what I do. But they see me now being involved, as opposed to being the head coach and you have an offensive coordinator and a defensive coordinator. It's allowed me to be more involved in every segment. To me, I want to make sure that every segment — offense, defense and special teams — are preparing and ready for the opponent."

The primary change has come on offense, where Villagrana went all-in with a spread, up-tempo scheme. He installed true freshman Bryan Bailey at quarterback and shuffled several skill position players. The Pirates responded with the two highest-scoring outputs of the season in wins against North Carolina A&T (31-26) and Norfolk State (27-17).

In last Saturday's win at Norfolk State, the Pirates totaled 451 yards, 216 more than their per-game average. They ran 84 plays — Villagrana's aim is to get up around 90 per game. They converted 7 of 18 times on third down; they converted a total of 16 third downs in the first six games.

If you think Villagrana was ecstatic after such a performance in just his second game running the offense, then you don't know him.

"I'm still frustrated because I wanted us to clean up a lot of things," he said, referring mostly to 10 penalties for 113 yards. "The most disappointing thing was the penalties. Penalties killed us. They left a lot of points off the board, stopped drives. I told the guys, 'We don't have play calls for second-and-20.' It really kills us."

Villagrana constantly emphasizes pace, as well as sharpness and crispness. The players don't get to the line for the next play as quickly and consistently as he would like. He knows the learning curve is steep, particularly for a mid-season overhaul.

"Any time there's a new offense in the middle of the season, there's going to be questions," he said. "You're going to have some guys … whether or not they say they believe and they're in, they're going to question it in the back of their mind. These two wins help with that. They see that we can score and put some points on the board and put some yards up, so they like that. They're going to be more attentive and buy in more."

Indeed, Villagrana is greatly encouraged by Bailey's potential, and the play of those around him. The freshman completed 19 of 27 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown. Bailey's recognition and willingness to attempt to take advantage of one-on-one situations were as important as the numbers. Receivers Leon Shorter and Twarn Mixson made plays, and tailback Jorrian Washington, a converted receiver, complemented the passing game with 119 yards rushing.

"It's crazy how everything has happened," said Villagrana, who came on board HU's staff just before the 2009 season on Rose's first staff. "We're able to put up points right now, we're able to put up some yards. A lot of it has to do with the defense really picking it up. That helps out the offense tremendously. Both sides believe in each other, and that's something I haven't seen a lot of since I've been here, is the relationship between the offense and defense. It's been kind of a competition, in a bad way. Now, we really want to help each other out. We're in this thing together."

Winning helps. Players are around the football offices more frequently. They study video and talk with coaches on their own. They show up a little earlier for weight-lifting and conditioning and training sessions.

"We don't have to say things as much, because they know now what's at stake," Rose said. "They like this winning. That's why we're here. There's only going to be one champion at the end, but we want to have the opportunity to win out and let the chips fall where they may."